World Cup 2010 Without Ballack

It is now official: what Germany coach Joachim Löw and millions of German football fans feared has come true. Captain Michael Ballack (Chelsea London) will definitely be unable to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Michael Ballack’s Agony and Ecstasy

For Ballack, agony and ecstasy have been very close together in recent days. Last weekend, the midfielder helped Chelsea London secure a double by beating Portsmouth in the FA Cup final at Wembley, bringing the English Cup to London alongside the league title. But the trophy came at a high price: in the first half, former Berliner Kevin-Prince Boateng fouled Ballack so badly that he had to be substituted with an injury before half-time. The injury has now proved extremely serious: the foul caused a tear to the medial ligament in Ballack’s right ankle and a partial tear of the syndesmosis, according to DFB team doctor Dr. Müller-Wohlfahrt, following an MRI scan in Munich.

Who Will Replace Ballack?

Now that the initial shock of the German national team captain’s absence has begun to subside, coach Löw is thinking hard about the new “problem area” in the national team’s defensive midfield: who should replace Ballack? Of the players currently named in Germany’s provisional squad, Khedira of VfB Stuttgart is the most obvious choice. But the Swabian has one thing in common with the other candidates: none can make up for the loss of the experience brought by Ballack, a leader hardened by nearly 100 international appearances and many European club matches. As a result, calls are growing for the return of Bremen veteran Frings, who was left out of the squad—and at the same time, critics argue that the national team coach may have made up his mind about Frings too early, as he did in the case of Kevin Kuranyi.